Thom In The News

Feb 14 2019

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) dedicated a special Valentine's Day message to his wife on the Senate floor Thursday, saying he forgot to buy her a gift for the holiday last year.

Tillis held up a piece of paper with a red heart drawn on it and dedicated it to his wife, Susan Tillis, while posing the speech in the form of a question in order to get around the Senate's rules surrounding the use of props.

"Last year I messed up because I didn't get flowers or anything,” Tillis said in the video, holding up the heart.

"I know there are a number of things you can't do because of Senate rules," he continued, jokingly. "So although I thought about putting this heart up and presenting this and saying I love my wife Susan Tillis of 32 years, I'm not going to do that."

The Senate and House remained in session Thursday as Americans celebrated Valentine's Day, meaning that lawmakers and some staffers found themselves away from loved ones on the annual romantic holiday.

Tillis's public Valentine's Day message followed one from former President Obama to his wife, Michelle Obama, in a tweet Thursday afternoon.

"Happy Valentine’s Day to the extraordinarily smart, beautiful, funny, one and only @MichelleObama. It’s true; she does get down to Motown," Obama wrote in his tweet.